The deer's tongue rasped at Kelsi's palm as she sat on a bench in the enclosed park at the Peacewood Zoo. A few feet away, Riley stood entranced as she listened to a zoo employee give facts about the different species of deer in the park. Alpha Lee had excused himself to use the bathroom, so Kelsi sat alone with her thoughts until a doe approached her, looking for a treat.

"Was I too harsh with him?" Kelsi asked the doe.

The female cervine lipped at the omega's skin, cleaning up every last bit of feed. Once it was all gone, she turned to seek a new target. Not wanting the deer to go, Kelsi poured another handful of feed from the paper cup wedged between her and the bench. The doe blinked liquid black eyes and promptly stuck her muzzle back into Kelsi's hand.

So far, Alpha Lee had done everything right: he was polite, good with Riley, courteous ... and so fucking handsome, Kelsi wanted to hate him. But even though he had no memory of the anti-omega campaign of their childhood, it was impossible.

Kelsi sighed and used her thumb to spread the feed out more evenly across her palm. She'd spent most of her teenage years and adulthood seething over the entitlement of betas; their arrogance and ability to get away with treating gammas and omegas like dirt. But here was an alpha who broke the mold. Not to mention his friend, Alpha Ryan's son, who had also treated her and Toria respectfully the night of the ball.

She'd never been one to give up without a fight, because that was the lot of omegas. You had to claw through life, hanging on with tooth and nail. But now, the goddess was gifting Kelsi a rare opportunity—the ability to move up.

Maybe she wouldn't have to fight those everyday battles anymore, but that didn't mean she'd stop fighting altogether. If Alpha Lee thought he was getting a meek omega for a luna, he would be sorely disappointed.

"What do you think?" she asked the doe.

The deer looked up at her, blinked, and walked away. Kelsi snorted in amusement and brushed her hands off on her shorts.

Riley ran up to her, a huge smile on her face. "Can I have the cup, Mommy?"

"Of course," she said, handing over the half-full cup of feed.

"Thank you!" her daughter exclaimed, skipping toward a cluster of deer.

A ripple of conversation spread out across the enclosure as Alpha Lee returned. He didn't acknowledge the calls or slight bows of subservience as he approached Kelsi, clutching two cups of feed.

"Sorry it took me so long," he said, sitting beside her. "There was a line."

A faint flush crept up Kelsi's neck as her body reacted to the alpha's presence. Get a hold of yourself, she thought, adjusting her position on the bench. "No problem," she replied mildly.

He cleared his throat and set the cups next to him. "Can I show you something?"

A jolt of concern mixed with panic shot through Kelsi. Dear goddess, he's not going to propose, is he?

"Uh, sure," she said instead, shifting.

The alpha glanced at her, then pulled out his phone. "My parents have been helping me look for properties in Silver Rush," he said, opening a text thread. "This one here is one hundred acres on the edge of town. It used to be a cattle ranch at the turn of the twentieth century."

Kelsi took the phone and looked at the Zillow listing. She flicked through pictures of dry, barren land, all the while taking note of the $50,000 price tag. She couldn't afford half of that. "Do we need a hundred acres?" she asked carefully.

Alpha Lee nodded. "For a clan compound, yes. And because there's no house on the property—at least, not anymore—we'll have to have one built. In the meantime ..." He held out his hand; Kelsi passed him back the phone. He went back to his text messages and opened another link. "We'll need a place to live. My dad suggested a double-wide."

Kelsi leaned over and looked at the website of a Nevada-based manufactured home company. Alpha Lee tapped the screen a couple of times. "This one here is a three-bedroom," he said, indicating a layout. "I figured you could use the third one as your craft room. What do you think?"

The suggestion startled Kelsi. "My—craft room?" she repeated.

"Well, yeah? Unless you're not knitting anymore?"

"It's crochet," she corrected automatically. "I just didn't think—well, that you'd care."

Lee cocked his head, brow furrowing. "Of course I care." He sighed and massaged his knees. "Look, I get that this isn't what you wanted, but I want you—and Riley—to be comfortable, too. And if that means setting aside an entire room for yarn and ... whatever else you use—I'm going to do it."

She stared at him in disbelief. "How are you so goddamn perfect?" she blurted out.

"Perfect?" Lee leaned back on the bench. "You think I'm perfect?"

"Well, you certainly seem it to me," she told him. She began ticking off points on her fingers. "You've shown interest in my daughter, you're setting aside a whole room for my projects, you're asking my opinion ..."

"Isn't that just common decency?" he countered. "I'm not going to leave the two of you to fend for yourselves out there."

Common decency wasn't a concept Kelsi would assign to alphas and betas. But he was slowly getting her to reconsider her long-held opinions. Only time would tell if she liked it.

Lee glanced at the dirt paddock, then at her. "Look, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not perfect. Ask my sister—she'll tell you."

"And what would she say—if I asked her?"

Lee chuckled dryly and rubbed his hands together. "That I have a bit of a temper, I'm messy and overprotective ..." He paused and glanced up at the trees that shielded the deer park from the sun. "Oh, I guess she'd also express concern for my increased alcohol consumption."

As Kelsi's eyebrows rose in concern, Lee held up a finger. "But I haven't touched beer since the investiture."

"That's good," Kelsi told him, feeling relieved. She could deal with messy and overprotective, but not a raging alcoholic. Especially around her daughter. Bond or no bond, there was no way she was marrying a booze hound.

"And you?" Lee asked, holding out a cup to an approaching young male deer. "What're your faults?"

Kelsi watched as the deer munched his way through the entirety of the feed cup. Licking his lips, the young male nosed the cup and, sensing there was nothing left, pulled his head back and meandered away. She was never one for intense introspection, so she shrugged and said, "I guess I care too much and shoulder a lot of responsibility."

A twinge of skepticism flowed through the bond. I really hate this thing, she thought, grimacing. There had to be a way to keep Lee from sensing what she was feeling and vice versa.

"I see," the alpha replied slowly.

Fortunately, Kelsi was saved from being grilled as Riley skipped over, a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Can we go see the elephants now?"

"Of course, kiddo," she said, almost leaping to her feet. She glanced over at Lee; the alpha spread the remainder of his other feed cup on the bench and tucked his phone into his pocket.

"Lead on," he said, rising.